Category: Race and Race Relations
-
The Time Has Come to Rename the Bases
By Peter Galuszka Momentum is growing to rename three Virginia military bases which bear the monikers of Confederate generals. It is part of a movement to reassess Confederate symbols within the military nationwide. The three bases are Ft. A.P. Hill, named for Confederate Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill Jr.; Ft. Pickett, named for Gen. George Pickett;…
-
The Ups and Downs of Felix Dzerzhinsky
By Peter Galuszka For three decades, a 15-ton statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky loomed over a square in downtown Moscow. He rose high near the Lubyanka building, a turn of the century, yellow-colored one-time insurance office that served as the national headquarters for the KGB. “Iron Felix,” born of Polish nobility, is best known as V.I.…
-
They Are Coming For Your Family, Your Strip Malls
By Peter Galuszka State Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield County, has always played the clown. The conservative politician grabbed attention a year or so back when she addressed a meeting at the General Assembly wearing a revolver in a holster on her hip. She’s also feuded with the county Republican Party and was defrocked. Now Chase…
-
“Systemic Racism?” Damned Right!
—
by
in Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Corruption and Scandals, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Demographics, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Media, Politics, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Social Services and Entitlements, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka There has been much debate on this blog regarding whether there is “systemic racism” in Virginia and the rest of the country. It’s a crucial question in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed African American who was killed on video by a white Minneapolis police officer…
-
A Better Alternative to Police Force
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I have been thinking a lot about a Washington Post article and accompanying police body camera footage. In that footage, a black man is pacing around and around in the middle of a street talking loudly, mostly incoherently. He is not being confrontational, but he is not cooperating, either. Several white Fairfax…
-
Gunning Up Virginia’s Cops
—
by
in Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Corruption and Scandals, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Defense, National Security, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Federal issues, Government Finance, Gun rights, Mental illness and substance abuse, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race RelationsBy Peter Galuszka In 2014, the Sheriff’s Department of York County and Poquoson got their very own tank-like vehicle, called a “Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP).” Fully armored and tan in color with steep sides, it looks like something out television footage of the war in Iraq where U.S. troops needed to get through mine-infested…
-
Not All Cops are Bad–Another Side to the Story
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I subscribe to the underlying spirit of “Black Lives Matter.” I have long been concerned about police harassment of black persons. I am angered by reports of police misconduct and assault during the current demonstrations, both in Richmond and around the country. As in mass demonstrations of this sort in the past,…
-
Hijacking George Floyd: UVa Edition
Here’s yet another example of how white liberals are hijacking the George Floyd tragedy to advance their special-interest agendas on the grounds of social justice. University of Virginia President Jim Ryan announced that UVa will create a task to gather, solicit and prioritize recommendations about racial equity. In a statement, Ryan said he felt “despair…
-
Hijacking George Floyd: Mass Transit Edition
Here’s another example of how white liberals are hijacking the George Floyd tragedy to advance their special-interest agendas on the grounds of social justice. At the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission meeting last night, Chair Katie Cristol observed that “Systemic racism, and the opportunity to confront it, is present in every feature of our lives, including…
-
Are Northam’s COVID-19 Policies Racist? By the Left’s Logic, Yes
by James A. Bacon Now that Governor Ralph Northam has declared his intention to take down the Lee Statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue in the cause of racial equity and justice, perhaps he could take another step — one that would actually affect the lives of African-Americans in a tangible way. He could accelerate the…
-
Our Gutsy Governor
—
by
in Bacon and Pigs, Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Defense, National Security, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, Elections, General Assembly, Governance, Government Transparency, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Media, Politics, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t OversightBy Peter Galuszka On June 24, 2015, Nikki Haley, a Republican who was South Carolina’s first non-white governor, called for the removal of a Confederate flag that had been flying over the state’s capitol grounds for years. “This flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state,”…
-
Ralph Northam on the Racial Protests
by James A. Bacon Speaking yesterday, Governor Ralph Northam gave his thoughts about the wave of protests and rioting that followed the death of George Floyd by the hand of a white Minneapolis policeman. Floyd and others, he opined, were wrongfully killed “simply for being black.” People across the country are “hurting and angry, and…
-
The Real Face of White Privilege
by James A. Bacon Behold the face of white privilege. Brian J. Bartels, a 20-year-old Amazon employee, was identified as one of the culprits involved in destroying a police car in Pittsburgh during demonstrations there. After police searched his residence and confiscated two guns, six spray-paint cans, gloves, books and other belongings, he turned himself…
-
Beware Fake Tweets
—
by
in Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Defense, National Security, Elections, Electoral process, Federal issues, Government Transparency, Infrastructure, Media, Money in politics, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, TelecommunicationsBy Peter Galuszka Around midnight Monday, reporters in downtown Washington D.C., stood by ready to cover the next round of protests about the slaying of African Americans by police. They started getting tweets marked #dcblackout suggesting that internet service was being interrupted because of a secret program presumably run by the government that would cut…
-
Fairfax Democratic Party Praises Riots
by Hans Bader In one of America’s largest suburban counties, the Democratic Party praised the recent riots that inflicted major damage on cities such as Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. As Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal notes, the Fairfax County Democratic Party said, “Riots are an integral part of the country’s march towards progress.” This…